Pensively my mother gazed for a few moments at the steam rising from her cup of herbal tea. After taking a deep breath she began. <ul style="font-style: italic">I will never forget that horrid night, it will be seared into my brain for as long as I am alive. Our new home, in Sausalito, was such a great place to live. On this particular evening we had opened the bedroom windows to let in the nice sea breeze. I remember I could hear the waves lapping the hulls of the yachts, boats, and skiffs moored at the dock down the hill from our home as I lay in bed. The occasional bark of a sea lion or the cry of a sea gull pierced the calm and cool evening as the full moon rose over the bay. It would have been absolutely divine if I was not being endlessly tormented by the nightmare. I had hardly been sleeping the last week or two because of the images flashing through my mind every time I closed my eyes to sleep. Inevitably the carnage, horror, and the screams of the dying souls would force me awake and I would be soaked in sweat - my heart racing. As the days passed the sleep deprivation was really beginning to take its toll.  The nightmares were more horrid though than the semi catatonic state I was in when awake. So, I would try as hard as I could not to fall asleep. Eventually though my desperate need for sleep would overcome my will to stay awake. On this particular night the same tug of war between my ever growing need for sleep and my fear of it crescendoed and mercifully I passed out for a few short hours. Then just after midnight the nightmare revisited me. Right around the part where the tidal wave overtakes the Golden Gate Bridge I was snapped from the horror by a new sensation - a feeling something, not in this dream world, but right there in Sausalito was terribly wrong.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">When I awoke I had this over whelming feeling something was not right. It was too quiet… and there was this overpowering and repugnant smell.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">I reached over and touched Andor’s back. He was as tight as a wire. He wasn’t moving - not even breathing. I heard a rustle next to the bed and then for just a split second, I detected a slight movement next to his side of the bed!</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">In one swift motion, you dad sprung into action! Swinging his arm he knocked the “thing” standing by our bed back. He told me later it felt itchy and damp on his skin. I heard his arm hit something solid and when it did there was this terrible alien hiss. Andor let out a blood curdling scream.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">It was absolutely terrifying.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">It was nearly pitch black in our room but I could make out Andor’s silhouette as he attacked the dark hissing figure standing next to our bed. I could hear an awful commotion and then him cursing and swearing… As if he’d been hurt. In the tussle a lamp was knocked to the ground and when it hit the lightbulb flashed, which temporarily lit up a figure who I could now see was cloaked in a tattered gray blanket. Where the eyes should have been, there were just deep black holes. It had brown tattered and matted hair brimming from its head. Engulfed in the darkness again and the terrible image of the intruder seared into my mind - I screamed. Then I heard Andor yell for me to turn on a light. I guess I flipped on the light by my side of the bed… but I don’t remember doing it. There in our room was this vapor of a human being. She was up against the wall by the bathroom. Under the filth, matted hair, and the mud and shit splattered all over her I could tell that it was a woman. She reeked like she hadn’t bathed in a year. It smelled so bad it took all my willpower to suppress the urge to vomit.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">For a moment right as the light in our room came on I could see pain and fear in her eyes; I almost felt sorry for her. The compassion I felt quickly evaporated though when she started hissing and spittle flecked from her cracked and bloody lips.</ul> Shuddering mom stopped and quietly reached for my hand, which I gave to her. Her hand was sweaty and I could see her pulse was racing in the distended veins in her neck. “You don’t have to keep telling the story if it’s too hard for you,” I offered. “No… It’s okay sweetie. I need to tell you, I haven’t told anyone. Not even Becky…” “Okay, if you’re sure…” I offered sympathetically. “I am…” she replied then she took a deep breath and left off where she had stopped in her story. ![[moonlightBay-ii3.jpg]] <ul style="font-style: italic">This wretched woman was pressed up against the wall I think she was afraid of Andor. Suddenly the unintelligible noises she was making became words. What she said sent a chill down my spine. I’ll never forget what she said as long as I live:</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">"Woe to this generation for they have hated their neighbor."</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">"Woe to them for they worship violence - their knees are ever bent before the altar of Vara."</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">"Dissent, anger, hatred are ever on their lips. Woe to them for they pursue wealth and status above love, before peace, before truth."</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">"In the name of greed they rape, pillage, and plunder the gift, which they were supposed to care for."</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic"l>"When someone speaks out against their injustices they mock and shame."</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">"How long will the world contend with this intolerant, bigoted, and hateful generation?"</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">"Repent - return to the land before she spits you out. Before calamity overtakes you like a whirlwind."</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">"Love your neighbor. Be kind to the poor, the destitute, and those your society has made it all to easy to hate. Refuse to worship violence."</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">I glanced over at your dad. He was naked, blood oozing from a gash on his shoulder. He was staring dumbstruck, unsure of how to process what was happening at that moment.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">The lady had a point but her delivery method needed some serious work. Breaking into someone’s home in the middle of the night to tell them this - made her crazy. Right?</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">So, anyways Andor and I just stared back at the the lady dumbstruck wondering what in the actual fuck was going on. Then she began to speak again…</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">"'Tell him, tell him!' the crazy lady shrieked while looking directly at me" my mother said as her voice increased an octave or two.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">I remember Andor telling me cooly, yet firmly to call 911. Then he reached for the baseball bat beside his side of the bed. I could tell his arm was hurting him by the way he winced when he picked it up and slung it over his shoulder.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">“You are all going to die and then all will be lost. The cosmos will be doomed. You must tell him Lilli… Leave…It is almost here. Almost here!” The insane lady croaked.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">I picked up my phone from the nightstand and dialed 911. They picked up quickly, which I remember surprised me.I remember telling the operator a burglar was in my home and my husband was bleeding... I must have told them more but I don’t recall what I said now…</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">Suddenly, the woman lurched forward seething “Tell him, Lilli, leave... NOW! NO TIME!”</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">Your father raised the baseball bat over his head getting ready to swing if the woman came towards our bed. I remember he yelled at her to stay back.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">The woman froze and then looked into my eyes. There was something there. While she looked absolutely disheveled - in her eyes I saw love, compassion, and maybe even…. Joy. She did not have the eyes of a crazy woman off her meds.</ul> There was a long pause while mom stared at the ceiling as she struggled to regain her composure. Then she took a sip of her tea and continued with the story. <ul style="font-style: italic">What happened next was incomprehensibly horrific.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">She smiled at me…</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">Then in a flash she turned and ran towards our bedroom window shrieking my name. She must have slipped on the rug or something because she crashed through the window screen and fell headfirst through our open second-story bedroom window. A moment later, there was a sickening thud as her body crashed into the ground.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">You dad peered out the window... I remember hearing him tell me quietly "she isn't moving". A few days later he told me he could see blood oozing out of her ears and staining our back patio.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">After a few moments he shook his head, spun around, and asked if I was okay. I don’t remember if I responded or not. I remember trembling, and my eyes were wide and unfocused, just staring at the window this person had plunged through. I was clutching the phone in my hands and the 911 operator was talking to me. But I couldn’t move. I was just… frozen.</ul> Her voice cracked and then a single tear rolled down her cheek. I pensively squeezed her hand unsure if this was helping her or if it was peaking her trauma. Before I could say anything she continued sharing her story. <ul style="font-style: italic">I was in shock. Your dad touched my shoulder, but I didn't respond. So, he pulled the phone from my grip.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">He spoke to the operator for a bit but I don’t recall what it was he said.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">Then in an instant my mind snapped and I let out a blood-curdling scream. Andor dropped the phone on the floor and then I began to convulse and sob. I fell off the bed because I was shaking so violently. Andor tried to pick me up as best he could; but with only one arm, which had been clawed up pretty good by their midnight visitor, he eventually had to give up and he just left me curled there on the cold hardwood floor sobbing.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">I remember hearing squealing tires and seeing flashing red and blue lights through our open bedroom door in the dark hallway.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">“The police are here,” Andor told me as he went to the bathroom and ran cool water from the sink over his arm.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">The messenger’s sharp untrimmed fingernails had ripped away his skin leaving three long gashes across his shoulder. He tried to wrap the wound with a hand-towel from the bathroom but it was hard to do without his prosthetic on so he gave up and just left the bloody towel on the bathroom floor. We could hear the police in the driveway now. Andor looked at me and then without saying a word, he pulled on his boxers and stepped into the hallway. He told me later when he came downstairs he could see two police officers at the door, their guns drawn.</ul> With a heavy sigh she took a sip of her tea and then stared quietly out the window in our cabin’s small kitchen before she continued recalling the night's terrifying events. <ul style="font-style: italic">“I don’t remember much afterwards; I was in shock. How things went afterwards I only know because Andor told me later…”</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">Your dad said he held up his hands because he knew the police weren’t sure who the burglar was and calmly told them he was the owner of the house and someone had broken in but she was in the backyard..</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">Another police cruiser pulled into the driveway, its lights flashing. Two more officers jumped out, their guns drawn.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">I heard Andor call for me. I could tell by the sound of his voice he was in pain, which helped me snap out of my shock a bit. When I came downstairs there must have been a half dozen police cars in our front yard and in the street. The chaos was overwhelming. The neighbors were coming out to see what was fuss was about. There was even a police helicopter flying overhead shining its bright spotlight into our backyard. The fire department showed up too.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">I overheard an EMT and a firefighter saying the lady was dead…! Apparently her neck was broken.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">I remember trembling violently - partly from the adrenaline wearing off and partly because it was cold outside and I was only wearing one of Andor’s big t-shirts. An officer asked me if I was alright. That is when I noticed my shirt was covered in blood.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">“She fell headfirst out the window… The way she hissed was horrific… It was as if she was possessed...” I stammered to no one in particular. Suddenly I was not feeling well - I felt like I needed to vomit. The world began to spin and then I passed out.</ul> <ul style="font-style: italic">When I came to, we were at the hospital.</ul> The sigh of relief and they way my mom's shoulders slumped forward told me all I needed to know. That sharing this story had released some of the power it had held over her for all these years. “I’m sorry… to tell you… all this.” she said between gasps as the tears flowed freely and dribbled off her cheeks. “You’re too young to be dealing with all this.” “I’m not too young mom!” I stammered. “I’m nearly fifteen.” “I know you are. You’re growing up so quickly. Your father would be so proud of you.” she squeezed my hand and smiled weakly. Now it was my turn to start crying. “What an absolutely horrible night… Thank you for sharing it with me” I said as I reached for a tissue and blew my nose. I had no idea this had happened to my parents. I had always wondered how they had survived the Wormwood event, I guess this was how. “So that’s why you left Sausalito?” I mused aloud. “Oh no sweetie. We didn’t leave then. Your father didn’t know about my nightmares and we had just moved. I couldn’t bear the thought of moving again.” my mother said sheepishly. “So, what made you leave then?” I asked as I stood up to get a glass of water my interest piqued at this development in their story. “Something else happened a few days later…” she said then she took another sip of tea and sat quietly staring at the nearly empty mug. ### Next Chapter: [[12 - Multiverse 🛸]] ### Previous Chapter: [[10 - Happiness and the Dreams 💭]]